A new industry-led pilot has been launched in the UK targeting one of the more frictional areas of insurer-to-insurer recovery - vehicle strike claims where a motor vehicle hits a building.
The initiative aims to shorten claim lifecycles, cut costs, and improve outcomes for both customers and insurers.
Allianz UK, Zurich and Intact Insurance are collaborating on the scheme, which will test a new set of standardised documentation for claims up to £15,000. The forms are designed to make it easier for property insurers to submit relevant information up front and for motor insurers to assess and settle those claims more quickly, reducing the need for extended correspondence or litigation.
The pilot will run for an initial 12-month period as a proof of concept, with DWF tracking performance to gauge the impact on speed of settlement, recovery rates and handling costs.
The initiative drew on the Reduction in Paper Exchange (RIPE) agreement, a long-standing market protocol that streamlines subrogated motor damage claims between participating motor insurers by standardizing key data and minimizing documentation.
While RIPE focuses on vehicle-to-vehicle collisions, the new pilot applies similar principles to vehicle-into-property incidents, a class of claim that can be operationally expensive despite often modest quantum.
In a typical case, the property insurer pays for repairs and then seeks to recover its outlay, including the policyholder's deductible, from the at-fault driver's motor insurer. Disputes around indemnity, causation, betterment and scope of works can slow that process and drive up frictional cost.
The project was proposed by Becky Rogers, technical head of property at Allianz UK, after she faced lengthy delays and litigation in property damage recovery claims. Rogers raised the idea with DWF, which has provided legal and technical input, and with the Forum of Insurance Lawyers (FOIL), which agreed to facilitate the project. FOIL represents the UK defendant insurance lawyer community and regularly works with insurers and market bodies on reforms aimed at more proportionate, cost-effective dispute resolution.
The new process is the result of detailed collaboration between the participating insurers and their legal advisers. It focuses on the early, structured provision of the information motor insurers need to make indemnity and liability decisions and to evaluate quantum, including policy and coverage details, incident evidence, repair estimates or invoices with any betterment considerations, and documents addressing common challenge points such as pre-existing condition or scope of reinstatement.
Guidance published alongside the claim forms sets out principles for handling claims within the scheme and is intended to reduce ad hoc queries and follow-up correspondence.
By concentrating on claims up to £15,000, the pilot targets a segment where handling time, expert fees and disputes can be high relative to claim size. The framework is intended to streamline decision-making, reduce the likelihood of litigation or escalation to external counsel, improve recovery rates and speed, and support more accurate reserving and pricing feedback for property portfolios.
Rogers said the existing vehicle strike recovery process too often leads to delays and litigation that benefit neither policyholders nor insurers.
"There are clear benefits for consumers, with property customers able to recoup their policy excess quickly," Rogers added. "Motor Insurers are likely to see a reduction in additional handling costs and lengthy and protracted quantum discussions. We also hope this will forge strong and trusting relationships across the market with the customer being at the heart of everything we do."
The pilot lands against a backdrop of sustained claims inflation in UK motor insurance. According to the Association of British Insurers, UK motor insurers paid out billions of pounds across millions of claims in 2025, with elevated repair costs continuing to push up claim spend. Vehicle damage, including third-party property damage, accounted for a large share of those payouts, underscoring how exposed the sector is to repair and reinstatement inflation.
The pilot brings together three insurers with significant UK footprints. Allianz has a major presence in UK commercial property and motor. Zurich is a multiline insurer with a substantial UK commercial and public-sector book and a global property-casualty footprint. Intact Insurance, the brand under which RSA and NIG have traded across the UK, Ireland and Europe since 2025, has signalled growth ambitions in commercial and specialty lines with an emphasis on technical capability and claims performance.
For all three, a successful pilot would support priorities around operational efficiency, broker service and demonstrable value under Consumer Duty, and may provide a talking point in broker and corporate client discussions where claims responsiveness and predictability are under close scrutiny.
If adopted more widely, the pilot could reshape how low-value vehicle strike recoveries are handled. A clearer framework could allow claims teams to allocate specialist resources to more complex or higher-value subrogation, while a reduction in unnecessary litigation would shift some panel law work toward advisory roles on process design and governance.
During the 12-month trial, DWF will monitor performance and gather insights on metrics such as time from notification to recovery, the proportion of claims resolved within the framework, handling cost and external spend, and user feedback on speed and clarity.
